SACRAMENTO – Today, the government-run healthcare proposal, Senate Bill 562, passed out of the Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations on a party line vote of 5 to 2.

This week, the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times published articles critical of SB 562 with its staggering $400 billion price tag and the assumption of a 15% payroll tax on the paychecks of Californians. Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel):

“Californians deserve access to more affordable health care options, not government-run health care that would impose an additional 15 percent tax on their paychecks. With Californians already paying one of the highest income tax rates in the nation, passing SB 562 will kill jobs and make it even harder for families to make ends meet.

“SB 562 is projected to cost at least $400 billion each year. For perspective, Governor Brown is proposing to spend $290 billion in the 2017-18 state budget. This number includes schools, law enforcement, roads and everything else. The single-payer bill is a false promise that would ruin the state’s precarious finances and threaten funding for other critical priorities.” Senator Jim Nielsen, Vice Chair of the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee (R-Tehama):

“Sacramento politicians just passed the state’s largest car and gas tax in history costing a family with two cars about $500 more each year.

“Now, they want to mandate a universal, government-run healthcare system on us that carries a price tag of at least $400 billion – More than $10,000 for every man, woman and child in California.

“This political experiment with our healthcare is too great a risk.”

Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) represents the 36th Senate District in the California Legislature, which covers South Orange County, North San Diego County and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Elected to the State Senate in January 2013, Senator Nielsen represents the Fourth Senate District, which includes the counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba. Please follow him on Twitter & Facebook.